Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) Read Online Free Page B

wanted to do it myself, but it’s been kind of crazy, as you can imagine.”
    “Why do you have—”
    Devyn breathed a sigh of relief when someone knocked on the door and prevented Trigger from asking about the papers strewn all around him. There were a couple of reasons why she didn’t want to talk about it. The first was due to the fact that he wouldn’t be happy about Joey keeping personal notes on the customers. The second had to do with her looking into what really happened to Joey. She would find out who killed her brother and Trigger would only tell her to trust in the police…the same officials who suggested she might have something to do with the crime instead of doing their job and looking for real leads.
    “I thought you could use some coffee,” Isaac said, holding a steaming cup in one hand and a plate in the other. “You also need to eat. Jenny’s bakery sent it over.”
    “Thank you, Isaac.” Devyn leaned up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on the older man’s cheek. Isaac had been with her ever since she’d opened the bar ten years ago. She didn’t have a college education, not having the money or the grades for a scholarship. What she did have was street smarts and she used them to her advantage, scrounging for any and all the loans she could get from the local banks. It hadn’t hurt that Trigger’s father was the bank manager, not that she ever used that ace. “Is everyone still here?”
    “Do you really have to ask me that question?” Isaac inquired with a raised eyebrow. His gaze then landed on Trigger. “Are you sticking around for a while?”
    Devyn didn’t bother to look Trigger’s way, because she already knew the answer. He had a responsibility to his new employer, a woman by the name of Catori Starr. She’d shown up one day out of the blue and was the sole reason Trigger had left and never really looked back. Granted, he’d given Joey a job in his absence, but he couldn’t have packed up fast enough. He’d left a vapor trail headed out of town because he’d departed so quickly.
    “I’ll be here for a couple of weeks,” Trigger answered, taking Devyn by surprise. He hadn’t been back home in a year and a half. His return now would undoubtedly only get in her way and he went ahead, proving her right. “Would either of you like to tell me why the files from my garage office are spread out all over the floor? I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason.”
    Isaac was a smart man and mumbled something about getting Diesel a bowl of water. The door shut behind him and Devyn highly doubted the Shepherd would be getting that drink any time soon. She set the plate of food down with a thud on her desk, all hunger having fled the moment those cold cuffs had been placed on her wrists. The coffee? Well, that was almost worth having to answer Trigger’s questions.
    “Joey kept notes on his customers in the margins of the work orders,” Devyn blurted out, not really caring about his reaction anymore. Her emotions had been a roller coaster, but she was pretty stable at this moment. She wanted to keep it that way. The busier she was, the easier it would be to face the fact that her brother was gone. “I’m going through every one of them to see if anything stands out. I promise I’ll return all of your files when I’m done sorting through them.”
    Silence filled the office until all Devyn heard was the low murmurs of her clientele through the thin walls of the tavern. She carefully took a drink of her coffee, not wanting to burn her lips. Her hands were somewhat steady now, so she took advantage of it. She let the warmth of the bitter liquid soak into her, but it did nothing to alleviate the bone-chilling fear that she would be found guilty of Joey’s murder and never be able find the person responsible. It also didn’t come close to easing her grief that only seemed to get heavier as the day progressed.
    “Exactly what kind of notes are you talking about?” Trigger